ஞாயிறு, 3 ஜூலை, 2016

Genocidal Colombo demonstrates its ‘respect’ to passive discourse by UNHRC with latest abduction

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 July 2016, 23:34 GMT]While the Foreign Minister of genocidal Sri Lanka was telling the
Human Rights Council in Geneva that his State had ratified the
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from
Disappearance on Wednesday, the SL Military Intelligence of the SL State
abducted a father of three and subjected him for a day-long
unimaginable torture before dumping him away at a farmland in Mannaar
with a warning that if he talked about what had happened to him at the
torture chamber, he would be shot and killed next time. The victim,
38-year-old Santhiyogu Anton is receiving medical treatment at ward 04
of Mannaar hospital and the SL Police is ensuring what the abductors
wanted the victim to do in remaining total silence to the world what had
happened to him. The victim has revealed that there was at least one
another person in the torture chamber of SL military intelligence.

The children of abducted, tortured victim Mr Santhiyogu Anton, caught up in trauma in Mannaar [Photo: TamilNet]

The released victim, Santhiyogu Anton, photographed by TNA parliamentarian Charles at Mannaar Hospital.

SL
Police providing security has blocked the victim and journalists from
contacting. This photo exposing the kind of burn injuries sustained by
the victim was taken by TNA parliamentarian.

In the meantime, Anton’s wife has
been ‘advised’ not to make noise about the brutal incident for the sake
of ‘security’ to her family.

All this has taken place a few
hours after Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra-ad al-Hussein asking all the “Sri
Lankans” to “rally behind the process” being charted by the SL State.

Zeid’s
list of achievements in the island contained only SL State’s symbolic
measures without practical implementation although his oral update
subtly exposed big disappointments. Zeid’s political message was to
trust the Colombo-centric discourse as he was pathetically implying that
the lack of achievement was something connected to the speed of
delivery rather than the inappropriate paradigm hitherto adopted by the
OHCHR and the UN Human Rights Council under the influence of powers
seeking global and regional hegemony in the island and the Indian Ocean
Region.

On Friday, Santhiyogu Anton's three kids (aged 11, 07
and 02) were caught up in trauma in Mannaar. No details have emerged
about the kith and kin of the other victim who was still being tortured
by the SL military intelligence.

Anton's children broke down when journalists were consoling them not to fear anymore.

A
military operative had pointed his gun at one of the eldest two girls
in April this year and told the children that their father would be
killed if he failed to surrender. The Intelligence operatives,
frequently visiting the house of the family had also attempted to beat
the wife of Anton in front of the children earlier in the year.

The
victim, Mr Santhiyogu Anton had sought protection at St. Peters Church
on 13 May as Sinhala Military Intelligence operatives were repeatedly
harassing him and his family.

Due to the increased harassment
throughout the last 2 years, Anton, at times tried to stay with his
relatives at Kaayaang-kuzhi. As the threats increased in April this
year, 30-year-old wife of Anton, chose to approach Bishop’s House to
ensure the safety of her husband. Mannaar Bishop’s House had arranged
church asylum at Uyilang-ku’lam.

The family is residing at Pa’l’li-munai, located within the urban limits of Mannaar city.

St. Peter’s Church at Uyilang-ku’lam is located 14 km southeast of Mannaar city.

30-year-old
Mathuvanthy, the wife of Anton, urges security and says she doesn't
know who the abductors were when asked to comment on what had happened
to her husband. She has worked hard to ensure the safety of her husband
since she married him in 2004. Mr Anton was abducted for the fifth time
on 28 June since 2004. This time, he was subjected to unimaginable
torture by the SL Military Intelligence at a torture chamber situated
30-minute drive away from Uyilang-ku'lam Church where the victim was
provided church asylum.

On
28 June, Anton was inside his room provided to him by the church and
the last thing he remembers was that he was preparing to sleep at 11:30
p.m.

A few hours later, in the early hours of 29 June, somebody
was knocking at the door. He opened the room thinking it was the people
whom he was working with to decorate the church for the feast to take
place next day. But, he was shocked to see the abductors pointing a gun
at his head as he opened the door. Four operatives were there to abduct
him. One of them was fluent in Tamil.

Within minutes, the
father of three was blindfolded; his mouth was taped and closed. The
abductors took him away to a van parked nearby the church, without
alerting anyone inside the premises.

It seems that the abductors
had carefully planned after days of surveillance work as they had
proceeded with the abduction despite the presence of the people inside
the church, which was at preparations for the feast, a priest who had
talked to the victim at Mannaar hospital, said.

The doors of his
room were seen open and nobody inside around 4:00 a.m. and the
administration of the church was alerted about Anton’s disappearance.
The priests informed the news to Anton’s wife.

The abductors’
van was not riding towards Mannaar, but in a different direction as the
victim sensed the bumps along an interior road, the priest told
TamilNet. It was a terrible 30-minute journey.

Although the
victim remained blind-folded, there were also times, especially during
the torture when he was bound to a chair in front of two sharp iron rods
that were pointing towards his two eyes. Anton was told he would lose
his eyes if he didn’t provide names of former LTTE people who had not
undergone SL ‘military rehabilitation’.

The abductors used iron
rods that were heated in a fire to harm him continuously during the
torture. The abductors told Anton that he had earlier escaped from their
custody using a “hole” in the SL judiciary.

Anton was arrested
in 2001 and spent 4 months at the detention of Terrorist Investigation
Division (TID) in Colombo and 6 months at Colombo Magazine Prison. Anton
was never a member of the LTTE. He was detained with the allegation of
telephone contact with a ‘suspect’ of the famous LTTE military operation
on Katunyake military airbase and the international airport. (The Tiger
military operation on Katunayake carried out without causing any
civilian death on 24 July, 2001, established the power-balance causing
the entire South and the global actors to realise that peace
negotiations were the only means of dealing with the Tamils at that
time. The Cease Fire Agreement was signed between the parties on 22
February 2002.)

Anton was 23-years-old and not married at that
time. He was released as there was no substantial evidence for him
having any role in the LTTE operation on Katunayake.

But, the SL
military intelligence was constantly after him and started to harass
his family as he got married in 2004. Anton has already been subjected
to abductions 4 times after his arrest, once in 2004 and three times in
2007 alone. Due to lack of resources, he was unable to flee the island
as many others had managed to escape to Tamil Nadu in India, to
Australia or to some other country.

On 29 June, as the hours
elapsed at torture chamber, the victim was stripped naked, hanged upside
down and was subjected severe torture. Burning rods were used to cause
injuries to his body. His body is full of burn injuries.

The torturing operatives were asking Anton to name places where arms and ammunitions were stored by the LTTE.

Santhiyogau
Anton is a fisherman from Mu’l’lik-ku’lam village situated in Musali
division. His native village is now fully occupied by the Sinhala Navy
and the entire division is facing Sinhala militarization and
colonization.

Anton married a 22-year-old girl from Pa’l’limunai
in 2004. His wife, Mathuvathy (also known as Nilshaya), has been
struggling for his security since her marriage. The family has three
children.

Mathuvany is in shock after seeing the burn wounds and
realizing the extent of the torture. She is exhausted and has lost her
hope for safety and security. Had she not chosen to approach all the
quarters from Church, NGOs and Tamil politicians, her husband would not
have returned alive, the journalists who managed to talk to her on
Friday said.

The abductors had also warned Anton, before dumping
him at Nochchik-ku’lam that his wife should not make any noise in the
future. If she does, they would kill him next time.

A TNA
parliamentarian, Charles Nirmalanathan from the ITAK, was the only one
who managed to photograph the victim at the hospital. The
parliamentarian was quick to get informed about the abduction and
release as one of the close relatives of Anton’s wife was employed at
the petrol shed owned by the ITAK parliamentarian.

Around 30th
night 11:30 p.m., Anton was dumped at Nochchik-ku’lam in a farmland
almost 2 km away from the church where he was staying. He managed to
move towards a light at a distance and got the people at the nearby
church to phone the Parish Priest at St Peters. His wife was informed
and he was admitted at Mannaar hospital around 01:45 in the morning.

No
one, except his family is allowed to talk to him by the Sinhala police
at Ward 04 of the hospital. The SL police claim it was giving ‘security’
to Anton.

Anton’s wife, who has been strong enough to do her
utmost in protecting her husband, has broken down after seeing him. She
has now come to a conclusion that there is no mechanism to protect her
family and she don’t want to blame anyone. She is now repeating the word
‘cooperation’ and was urging cooperation from the abductors and the SL
police.

Eezham Tamils now look at Human Rights Chief Zeid and
his OHCHR as the SL Police giving ‘security’ Mathuvanthy’s husband,
commented a Catholic priest on condition of anonymity.

The Eezham
Tamils, told to rally behind the Colombo-centric discourse, have to
remain in trauma like the children of Anton and Mathuvanthy, while NGOs
want to manipulate the demands of the people with the ‘transitional
justice’ funds coming from abroad, the priest said.

Meanwhile,
some Tamil diaspora activists rewarded with scholarships in the USA were
trying to manipulate the voices of those coming from the ground,
repeatedly telling them not to criticize the discourse being adopted by
US-influenced OHCHR.